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Finale Data Collector Settings

Overview

The Finale Data Collector has settings to allow you to customize the user interface for the way your company works. For example, some companies typically receive their orders in cases; others receive their orders in eaches. Wouldn't it be nice if the software could default to the correct "each mode" or "case mode" for receiving, whichever you prefer? The settings allow you to make that kind of customization.

RCV default unit: Each/Case

When you start a receive operation, the scanner can start out in "each" mode or "case" mode. Either way, you can change the mode by just clicking the little link above the scan box, but if you usually receive in one way or the other, set the default to save yourself a click.

RCV type quantity: Yes/No

When doing a receive operation for a particular item, do you scan each box or do you scan one box and type in a quantity? The scanner can do both, but you can set the default to one mode or the other, whichever is more convenient. If you set this setting to No, you can still toggle on and off the quantity box on the scanner just prior to scanning the item. If you know you are going to be typing the quantity for received items, though, set this setting to Yes.

RCV learn mode: Yes/No

Learn mode on the scanner applies when you are receiving units with barcodes that are not yet known to Finale. With learn mode YES, you do two things at once -- (1) you create the association in the product lookup table (PLU) between the barcode you use to identify the unit and its Product ID, Lot ID, and packing, and (2) you add the scanned units to shipment you are receiving. The barcode you use to identify the unit is called the scankey.

In the normal receive mode (i.e., learn mode NO), you simply scan the barcode that identifies the unit you are receiving. If this scankey happens to be unknown to Finale you will get a warning and you will have the option to type or scan the Product ID for that scankey in order to create the association in the PLU on the fly. This normal mode works well if most of the time you are scanning barcodes that you've scanned before or imported into Finale.

In learn mode YES, the scanner asks you to scan the information in the opposite order. First you scan the Product ID and optionally the Lot ID, and then you scan the barcode you will use to identify the product (the scankey). For every unit you go on to scan, the scanner will create a new entry in the PLU as it adds the unit to the shipment. Thus the learn mode setting controls whether the scanner creates an entry in the PLU. Another setting, RCV serial number mode, affects how the Lot ID field gets filled in, as discussed below. Here are a couple examples:

Imagine you are receiving 100 expensive electronics parts, all having the same Product ID but each having its own serial number that you want to record and keep track of. Set learn mode to YES and set "RCV serial number mode" to SEMI (see below). Then to receive the products you will scan the Product ID and the first serial number, then the Product ID again, and the second serial number, and so on, in pairs. Each pair you scan you are creating an entry in the PLU that associates the serial number as the scankey to the Product ID that you scanned in and a Lot ID set to be the serial number itself. In subsequent inventory operations, you can thus identify the unit by scanning just its serial number, a single barcode. The scanner finds the corresponding Product ID and Lot ID by looking up the serial number in the PLU.

A further optimization is possible with this example, however. If you are receiving 100 serial numbered units of the same Product ID, then you can set "RCV serial number mode" to AUTO. The scanner's user interface will then let you scan the Product ID once and then scan all 100 serial numbers one after another, which reduces number of scans required by half.

A second example shows learn mode in a scenario without serial numbers or Lot IDs. If you are receiving units that do not have barcodes on them, you can apply unique barcode labels to them from a pre-printed roll of stickers. This approach is particularly useful if you don't know in advance what you are going to receive. For each unit received, you just peel off a sticker from the roll, apply it to the unit received, and then scan it in in learn modeYES. Learn mode is obviously required because you need to create the association in the PLU between the unique barcode sticker from the roll and the Product ID it corresponds to. This technique also works using the various settings of RCV serial number mode if you are receiving units with lots or with serial numbers that are not guaranteed to be unique.

The normal setting for "learn mode" is off, so unless you understand how these examples relate to your business, please leave this setting as NO.

RCV serial number mode: Off/Auto/Semi/Manual

This setting configures the user interface of the Data Collector to keep track of serial numbers or other per-unit information in the Lot ID field as you are receiving. Finale records all per-unit information, including serial numbers, lots, batch codes, references, and combinations of such information in the Lot ID field. If you just use serial numbers, then you can think of the Lot ID field as the serial number field. For ease of explanation, we'll use the term serial number here to mean any kind of information that you need to enter individually for each unit received.

When you receive a unit with a serial number in RCV learn mode = YES, you typically need to scan two or three pieces of information: the Product ID, the serial number, and a unique scankey by which to identify the unit after receiving it. Thus, receiving a unit with a serial number takes multiple scans to record the information, but subsequent operations on that unit require only a single scan of the unit's scankey to identify it.

If this setting is Manual then the user interface for receiving will cycle through scanning the three pieces of information: Product ID, serial number, and scankey. However, if the serial number is unique across all your products, then the serial number itself can serve as the scankey, which reduces the required pieces of information from three to two. If you use the Semi setting, then the user interface will cycle between scanning two pieces of information: Product ID and serial number. The scankey and Lot ID will both be set to the serial number.

The Auto setting is the same as Semi except that after the user interface instructs you to scan the Product ID, it lets you cycle through scanning multiple serial numbers for that same product, which is optimally efficient if you are receiving many serial numbers of the same product at a time.

When you receive a unit with a serial number in RCV learn mode = NO, this setting has no effect unless you encounter an unknown scankey (serial number) and create a new scankey lookup, in which case if this setting is Auto or Semi then the scankey lookup's Lot ID and the received unit's Lot ID will be set to the scankey itself; otherwise the Lot ID field will be set to the current default Lot ID, as set from the Receive menu.

XFR default unit: Each/Case

See "XFR default unit: Each/Case", above. This setting sets the scanner to default to "case mode" or "each mode" when doing a transfer operation. Set it to whichever is more convenient. You can still toggle between modes on the scanner just prior to scanning the item.

XFR type quantity: Yes/No

See "XFR type quantity: Yes/No". This setting controls whether, by default, the user interface includes a quantity box in transfer operations for you to type the quantity instead of scanning each item.

PCK default unit: Each/Case

See "PCK default unit: Each/Case", above. This setting sets the scanner to default to "case mode" or "each mode" when doing a pick operation for a committed sales order. Set it to whichever is more convenient. You can still toggle between modes on the scanner just prior to scanning the item.

PCK type quantity: Yes/No

See "PCK type quantity: Yes/No". This setting controls whether, by default, the user interface includes a quantity box in pick operations for you to type the quantity instead of scanning each item.

PCK directed picking: Yes/No

The Data Collector software supports three picking methods: Basic, Wave, and Pick and Pack. By default, all of these methods involve the scanner telling you what to pick and where to go, based on the purchase order or set of purchase orders being picked. The Basic method does have a random access picking option, though, that doesn't tell you what to pick and that simply records whatever you do pick.

If you are following a pick list you've printed out to paper or if you are making a lot of substitutions, you may prefer the random access picking option of Basic picking. If so, turn directed picking off. Directed picking on is the default.

PCK verification: Click ok / Scan slot / None

After picking an item, the scanner has several verification options before sending you to the next item. The Click ok option simply shows you the item just picked and asks you to click okay before advancing to the next. This option applies to all directed pick methods. The Scan slot option applies only to Wave picking; instead of just asking you to click okay, it asks you to scan the box on the cart into which you are putting the item (the slot), which ensures you are putting the item into the correct box. The None option just advances you to the next item without any extra clicks required.

PCK sort by: List/Std bin/Product ID/Sublocation

If you are picking in directed picking mode (see above), then this setting controls the order of items in the pick list. The default is List, which means the order of items picked is the same as the order of items in the sale order itself. Changing the setting to Std binor Product ID will case the picking order to be sorted by the Std bin property of the items or the Product ID of the items.

Changing the setting to Sublocation changes the sort order to be based on the actual sublocations holding stock of the items. For each item in the list, a list is constructed of sublocations holding non-zero stock of that item, testing for matching case/units if required (see setting below). This list of sublocations is then sorted alphabetically. The sorted list of sublocations becomes the sort key by which the item itself is sorted against other items in the pick list. Items with no stock sort last in the list.

The sorting for all settings is case-sensitive alphabetical, which means that a bin named "M9" will be sorted after a bin named "M432" because the character "9" sorts after the character "4". To make bins or sublocations that have numbers in their names sort intuitively, you can pad the numbers with zeros on the left to make them all the same number of digits. In the example above, you could use the name "M009" instead of "M9", and then it will sort after "M432" correctly.

PCK require units match: No/Yes

Directed picking advances through a pick list in sorted order, telling you which item to pick next. Your progress through the list advances when you have picked the satisfactory quantity of the current item. If the item in the pick list indicates cases, and you pick units, or vice versa, there's a question of whether that's satisfactory. For example, if a customer orders a six-pack of beer, is it satisfactory to pick six individual bottles or must you pick a six-pack itself? This setting controls whether the case/units are required to match in order to satisfy an item in the pick list and advance to the next.

This setting also controls, both in directed picking mode and in random access picking mode, whether the scanner displays a warning message when you pick mis-matching case/units for an item in the pick list. The warning is disabled if this setting is No. Along with this, the setting controls whether the total quantity in the information bar at the bottom of the screen while picking takes into consideration the case/units distinction.

If you are picking in directed picking mode, sorted by sublocation (see above), then this setting controls the determination of whether a sublocation contains stock of an item. If Yes then the determination depends on the distinction between cases and units, though not the specific packing of the cases; if No then the determination is based on the presence of any stock of the item independent of whether the stock is in cases or units.

RTN default unit: Each/Case

See "RCV default unit: Each/Case", above. This setting sets the scanner to default to "case mode" or "each mode" when doing a return operation. Set it to whichever is more convenient. You can still toggle between modes on the scanner just prior to scanning the item.

RTN type quantity: Yes/No

See "RCV type quantity: Yes/No". This setting controls whether, by default, the user interface includes a quantity box in return operations for you to type the quantity instead of scanning each item.

RTN learn mode: Yes/No

See "RCV learn mode: Yes/No", above. This setting controls whether the user interface asks you to scan the product ID first, followed by unique, unknown barcodes to be associated with the barcode (i.e., "learned"), or asks you to scan the barcode first, which is more efficient if most of your barcodes are already in the lookup table. No is the standard setting.

RTN serial number mode: Off/Auto/Semi/Manual

See "RCV serial number mode: Off/Auto/Semi/Manual", above. This setting controls whether the scankey itself fills in as the Lot ID for the scanned item, which is useful in circumstances where the Lot ID field is used to hold the serial number of the item. Off is the standard setting.

TAK default unit: Each/Case

See "RCV default unit: Each/Case", above. This setting sets the scanner to default to "case mode" or "each mode" when doing a stock take. Set it to whichever is more convenient. You can still toggle between modes on the scanner just prior to scanning the item.

TAK type quantity: Yes/No

See "RCV type quantity: Yes/No". This setting controls whether, by default, the user interface includes a quantity box in stock take operations for you to type the quantity instead of scanning each item.

TAK write zeros: Yes/No

When you perform a stock take and don't scan a particular product, does that mean the product has zero quantity at the sublocation or does it merely mean that you aren't updating the stock value for that particular product? If the meaning of your stock take is that any products you don't scan are not present, then set this setting to YES so the scanner writes zero quantities for any products that you have not explicitly included. If the meaning of the stock take is that products that you don't scan should retain their existing quantity values, then leave this setting as NO.

If this setting is YES then whenever you exit a stock take, the scanner automatically shows you the variances from the previous quantities. With either value of this setting, you can view the stock quantities as they were before or after the stock take, or view the variances, from the menu of the stock take operation.

CHG default unit: Each/Case

See "RCV default unit: Each/Case", above. This setting sets the scanner to default to "case mode" or "each mode" when doing a stock change operation. Set it to whichever is more convenient. You can still toggle between modes on the scanner just prior to scanning the item.

CHG type quantity: Yes/No

See "RCV type quantity: Yes/No". This setting controls whether, by default, the user interface includes a quantity box in stock change operations for you to type the quantity instead of scanning each item.

LRN lotId is barcode: Yes/No

See "RCV lotId is barcode: Yes/No", above. This setting controls whether the barcode itself fills in as the Lot ID for a scanned item, which is useful in circumstances where the Lot ID field is used to hold the serial number of the item. No is the standard setting.

LRN default unit: Each/Case

This setting sets the scanner to default to "case mode" or "each mode" when learning barcodes. Set it to whichever is more convenient. When learning barcodes, if the scanner is in "each mode", then the learned record in the barcode lookup table will have a blank field for the suggested packing field even if you've set the packing quantity from the menu option.

Automatic barcodes: Yes/No

The barcode you use to identify a unit is called the scankey. When you scan in a unit's barcode during a stock take, or transfer, or other inventory operation, the scanner will lookup the barcode in the product lookup table (PLU) to see what Product ID and optionally Lot ID or packing it implies. Automatic barcodes are barcodes you can use as scankeys even if they are not in the product lookup table (PLU).

The standard setting is YES because there is no harm in turning on automatic barcodes even if you don't use them. The basic example of automatic barcodes is Product IDs themselves: if the barcodes you use to identify units are the Product IDs themselves, then you can turn this setting on and you never need to worry about importing a product lookup table or learning barcodes on the fly. They just work automatically.

To understand precisely what automatic barcodes are and whether they are appropriate for your company, we can define them in terms of the product lookup table. Finale keeps a lookup table that associates the barcode you use to identify a unit (i.e., the scankey) with a Product ID, Lot ID, and suggested packing. You can think of the lookup table as an Excel spreadsheet with the scankey in column A, and the Product ID, Lot ID, and suggested packing in columns B, C, and D. Whenever you scan a barcode used to identify a unit, the scanner will lookup the barcode in column A and then fill in the information from column B, C, and D into your receive operation.

There are two kinds of automatic barcodes: Product ID, and CSV. Automatic barcodes of the Product ID kind are implicit rows in the lookup table with the Product ID listed in both column A and column B, leaving column C and D blank.

The second kind of automatic barcodes are CSV barcodes. These barcodes are capable of representing Lot ID and suggested packing (columns C and D) in addition to the Product ID. The syntax of CSV barcodes is a comma separated list of Product ID, Lot ID, and suggested packing. The Lot ID and suggested packing are both optional fields. If any of the fields contains double quotes in the value, the value is wrapped in double quotes and the internal double quotes are doubled up, such as "1-1/2"" Nails" for one and one half inch nails (including the outer double quotes). If any of the fields contains a comma in the value, the value is wrapped in double quotes. These are the standard escapement rules for CSV files as defined for Microsoft Excel.

Finale will recognize any CSV barcode that begins with a recognized Product ID as the first field. The other two fields are optional. Like Product ID barcodes, the CSV barcodes are useful because you don't have to learn them or import them into a lookup table. They work straight away. Unlike Product ID barcodes, the CSV barcodes are capable of representing Lot ID and suggested packing, so if you need those fields, the CSV barcodes are your only option for automatic barcodes. The drawback to CSV barcodes is that they can be long if they combine a lot of information into the barcode string. In general, barcode scanners are slower and less reliable for long barcode strings since they make the barcode image more dense, making it harder to distinguish the bars in the image from each other.

This 'Automatic barcodes' setting must be YES if you want to choose items by clicking on them from a list instead of scanning them (click-to-pick).

Distinct barcodes: Yes/No

The distinct barcodes setting turns on error checking that applies if you know that all of your barcodes are unique, meaning that every barcode label is different, even the barcode labels on the same type of product. The standard setting is No because most businesses don't use distinct barcodes, but if your company does use distinct barcodes, this setting is great.

If you are wondering what distinct barcodes are like, here is an example. If you are using pre-printed sequential barcodes from a roll of barcodes that you apply to items and "learn" as you receive, that is an example of distinct barcodes because every sticker from the roll is unique. You can also print distinct barcode labels in advance for items you receive, though that also requires learning them on the fly as you receive or importing them into the lookup table.

The advantage of distinct barcodes and turning this setting on is that if the scanner knows that every barcode is unique, then it knows to report an error if you scan the same barcode twice in a receive operation or other inventory operation, because scanning the same barcode twice means you scanned the same item twice, as opposed to two items of the same type. You can rely on the fact that the scanner will report the error, which allows you to check if you've already scanned an item by scanning it again! With distinct barcodes and this setting on, you don't have to worry about losing track of what you've scanned versus what you haven't yet scanned.

List lotIds separately: Smart/Yes/No

This setting controls whether scanned items that have the same Product ID but different Lot IDs are listed as separate rows or combined together into a single row. If your Lot IDs represent serial numbers or box or pallet numbers, then you probably want to use the Smart or Yes setting in order to keep the items separate when you do the "Menu > Review items" command from within an operation. If your Lot IDs are batch codes, then you may find it more convenient to use the Smart or No settings to combine rows of the same Product ID to show the total quantities instead of broken out by batches.

The Smart setting, which is the default, works for most companies. It works as follows: if a scanned item matches a row in the receive list or pick list, then it is combined onto that row along with any other items that match that row; otherwise the scanned item will combine only with other items that have the same Lot ID as well as Product ID and Packing.

An example illustrates the somewhat complex logic. Say you are receiving 200 apple pies. The receive list has one row: apple pie, quantity 200. When you scan in the apple pies, let's imagine you have the scanner configured to read in the expiration dates or batch codes of the pies as the Lot IDs. You scan 100 pies with Lot ID 10/21/2014 and 100 pies with Lot ID 10/23/2014.

Since all 200 scanned pies match the row on the receive list (which doesn't specify the Lot ID), they are all combined on that single row when you do "Review items" to show you that you have received 200 of 200 pies. Now let's imagine you additionally scan 200 muffins, also split across two batches of 100 each. Since the two batches of muffins are not on the receive list, they will neither combine with single pie row on the receive list, nor with each other. The result of "Review items" will be three rows, one row of 200 pies, and two rows of 100 muffins of each batch.

This scanner setting also affects the scanned item message at the bottom of the screen, which shows the sum of the items you've scanned that would be combined onto a single row following the logic above.

Barcode sets cs/ea: Yes/No

When you scan a barcode, you are selecting a product and optionally some specific information about that product, like its Lot ID or whether the scanned item is a case or each. This setting pertains to the optional information. More specifically, it controls whether the barcode overrides the case/each mode on the scanner (the little case/each link over the scan box).

Recall that the lookup table for barcodes is like an Excel spreadsheet with the barcode in column A, and the Product ID, Lot ID, and suggested packing in columns B, C, and D. Whenever you scan a barcode, the scanner will lookup the barcode in column A and then fill in the information from column B, C, and D.

If this setting is No, then no matter what information is in column D in the lookup table (the suggested packing), the scanner's case/each mode that you toggle with the link above the scan box will prevail. In other words, if you are in case mode, then the item you scanned will be recorded as a case; if you scan it four times or type a quantity of four, that means four cases. If you are in each mode, then the item you scanned will be recorded as an each, even if the barcode has an associated suggested packing in column D.

However, even when this setting is No the barcode's packing information from column D applies in a specific circumstance: If (a) the scanner is in case mode, and (b) the barcode's packing is not blank, then the barcode's packing will be applied to the record of the item scanned. This facility allows you to manage inventory with cases of different sizes having different barcodes, but still allows you to put the scanner in each mode and scan the same barcodes to mean eaches when picking individual items.

If this setting is Yes, then the scanner will automatically switch into case mode or each mode based on the suggested packing of the scanned barcode (column D), and that suggested packing will apply to the scanned item. If the suggested packing is blank, then the scanned item is an each. If the suggested packing is "cs" or something more specific like "12/1" then the scanned item is a case with that packing. If the suggested packing is just "cs" then it gets converted to the standard packing for that product when you synch the scanner with your account.

Use the Yes setting if you have different barcodes for cases and eaches. Then you don't have to click the case/each button on the scanner because the barcodes themselves specify the mode.

Upper case typing: Yes/No

If set to Yes, the scanner software converts all typed characters to upper case. Since scanner keyboards are often inconvenient, this setting can make typing easier for those circumstances in which you are typing on the scanner. If you need lower case, though, you are out of luck.

Convert to eaches: Yes/No

It is not uncommon for a company to receive in cases but keep track of its stock in eaches. This setting makes that conversion happen automatically when you synch the scanner with your account.

When you receive an order or do another inventory operation like a pick or transfer, you can scan the items in cases or eaches, whichever is more convenient. If this setting is Yes then the cases are converted to eaches when you synch, using the standard packing for that product as the conversion factor if the packing for the scanned item doesn't include the conversion factor itself.

Default quantity per scan: 1/StdPk/All

When you scan an item without explicitly entering a quantity then your scan will be interpreted to mean "1" unless you change it with this setting. Although the default quantity of "1" is the most commonly used, the other two possibilities are powerful features:

The StdPk setting changes the default quantity when you scan eaches to be the standard packing for the scanned item. This allows you to scan a whole case of items with a single swipe of the scanner. As an example, imagine your were keeping track of your inventory in eaches, but you are doing a transfer operation in which you are moving cases of items packed 72/1. If you have the StdPk setting on, then every time you scan an item's barcode, it counts as 72 (assuming 72 is the standard packing for the item). This is faster than scanning the barcode 72 times or scanning it once and explicitly typing the quantity 72 on the tiny little keyboard.

The StdPk setting only applies when you are scanning in "each" mode. If you are scanning in case mode, the default quantity remains "1".

The All setting changes the default quantity for an item to all of it, i.e., the quantity on hand at that sublocation. This setting is useful in a variety of contexts. If your quantity for a stock unit represents a weight rather than a count of eaches, then more often than not you probably transfer or ship the stock unit as a whole, not just some fraction of its weight. The "all" setting allows you to do this. Assuming your different stock units have unique Lot IDs to identify them as distinct, then if you scan the barcode representing one of your stock units in "all" mode, that scan will mean you are transferring the entire quantity (weight) of that stock unit.

The "all" setting can also be used for pallet tracking in warehouses. Each pallet has a unique Lot ID to differentiate it from other palettes. When you move the pallet around, you just scan the barcode on the pallet in "all" mode and that means that you are transferring everything on the pallet.

The "all" setting can also be used if you want to transfer everything you have in one storage sublocation to another. Turn on "all" mode and scan everything in the "from" location. It doesn't even matter if you accidentally scan something twice. Since "all" means all of that item at the sublocation, there's no difference between scanning the item once or multiple times in the same transfer -- all is all.

Disable neg. qty error: No/Yes

In directed picking, if you type a quantity of an item that would result in the recorded stock level going negative, the Data Collector software will display a warning message if this setting is No. The purpose of the warning message is help detect errors like making typos in the quantity or incorrectly designating whether you are picking a case or an individual unit, both common mistakes that result in discrepancies in recorded inventory.

If you are using the barcode scanner but are treating the recorded inventory stock levels as estimates or ignoring them altogether, then you may want to turn this warning message off so it doesn't get in your way.

On-list sound: Beep/Boop/Chirp/Buzz/Bells/None

This setting indicates the "happy sound" that plays when you scan an item that is on the list of items you are expecting to scan.

Off-list sound: Beep/Boop/Chirp/Buzz/None

This setting indicates the "warning sound" that plays when you scan an item that is not on the list of items you are expecting to scan. Sometimes the warning indicates an error; other times it might be alerting something you are intending to do anyway, like making a substitution.

Done sound: Beep/Boop/Chirp/Buzz/Bells/None

This setting indicates the "minor celebration sound" that plays when you scan the last item of a particular type. The sounds are all different to allow you to scan quickly without looking at the screen, and to know when you are done.

Error sound: Beep/Boop/Chirp/Buzz/Bells/None

This setting indicates the "celebration sound" that plays when you scan the last item in a list. The sounds are all different to allow you to scan quickly without looking at the screen, and to know when you are done.

All done sound: Beep/Boop/Chirp/Buzz/Bells/None

This setting indicates the "major celebration sound" that plays when you finish a pick list.

Tab key alias

In directed pick operations, the tab key is a shortcut key to skip the current item. Some scanners don't have a tab key on their keyboard, so this setting allows you to assign another shortcut key to skip.

Stock details key

When scanning items in any scanner operation, if you select "Item stock details" from the menu you will see a comprehensive stock account of the last item scanned, or in the case of directed pick, of the item you are being directed to pick. This setting allows you to assign a shortcut key to this operation, which is by default the space key. The item stock details screen also allows you to press this shortcut key to return to the operation, so you can pop in and out quickly to check the stock of an item you scanned or are about to pick.

Hide case button

The case/each button that is present for all inventory operations on the scanner in the upper right corner of the "scan item" screen is useful for changing whether the scanned unit is to be interpreted as a single unit or whether it is a case that contains a number units defined by the packing.

But if you aren't using cases in your inventory management scheme, the case/each button can get in the way and create the possibility of human error. So by all means, if you don't use cases, turn off the button with this setting!

The Lot ID field is used in Finale to hold information that applies to a unit individually, as opposed to information that is associated with all units of the same Product ID. Examples of this per-unit information include serial numbers, lots, batch codes, references, and combinations of such information.

If you need to record multiple pieces of per-unit information in the Lot ID, such as a serial number and a batch code, then this Multi-part Lot ID will help configure the user interface for your needs. While it remains the case that all per-unit information is stored in the Lot ID field, the Multi-part Lot ID setting allows you to scan in two, three, or four pieces of information, and combines the information you've scanned into a single string.

Normally, when you scan an item, the scanner hardware reads in the characters of the barcode and then issues a carriage return character that causes the user interface to skip to the next screen. The Multi-part Lot ID function causes the user interface to handle Lot ID scanning specially, by converting the first one or two or three carriage return characters to a character like underscore or dash that separates the parts of the Lot ID instead of skipping to the next screen.

For example, if you want to use two-part Lot IDs that incorporate a serial number like 1234 along with a batch date code like 2012-10-14, then you could set the Multi-part Lot ID setting to 2 part, _ (underscore), choosing underscore instead of dash since your date fields already use a dash.

With that setting, whenever you need to enter a Lot ID, first scan the serial number, 1234. You will notice the scan box shows "1234_" and the user interface does not advance to the next screen. Then scan the date part, 2012-10-14. That causes the scanner to advance to the next screen, having set the Lot ID to "1234_2012-10-14".

Distinct Lot IDs: Off, On

This setting applies if you use the Lot ID field to hold serial numbers. Since serial numbers are unique, that would mean the Lot IDs would be unique. If every Lot ID is unique, then any situation in which stock exists at two different sublocations with the same Lot ID would be an error: the same unit cannot be two places at once.

If this setting is ON, then if you ever do a stock take of a unit with a Lot ID at sublocation "A" whilst stock of that unit already exists with the same Lot ID at a different sublocation "B", then you will get an error message if you are setting the quantity to anything other than zero. Doing so would create a split unit that exists partially at two different sublocations.

This setting has no effect other than enabling that warning message. The warning message does not apply to units that have blank Lot IDs. The warning message obviously is not required, but it can help to reduce data entry mistakes by flagging them for you at the moment they are caught.

GS1 is an international standard for representing structured information in barcodes, including dates, serial numbers, dimensions, batch numbers, etc., in addition to item numbers. This setting turns on support for parsing GS1 barcodes, to extract structured information contained in the GS1 barcode to fill the Product ID field and optionally the Lot ID field and packing field of a scanned item. The GS1 specification can be found at www.gs1.org here: specification.

The item number in the GS1 barcode, called the GTIN, can be the Product ID itself or a scankey from which to lookup the Product ID from the PLU. The lookup ignores the Lot ID field and suggesting packing field in the PLU, since this information is expected to be contained in the GS1.

If set to GTIN only, Finale will determine the Product ID from the GTIN item number in the GS1 barcode as the Product ID and ignore everything else.

If set to GTIN + date, Finale additionally extracts any date field, such as the best before date (GS1 application identifier, or AI, 15), production date (AI 11), due date (AI 12), packaging date (AI 13), or sell by date (AI 16). Finale represents the date as all or part of the Lot ID field, using the prefix "Mfg:" for AI 11 or 13 or "Exp:" for AI 12, 15, and 16. If the GS1 barcode contains multiple dates, the last one applies.

If set to GTIN + lot or GTIN + SN, Finale extracts the batch or lot number (AI 10) or serial number (AI 21) respectively, and applies them to the Lot ID field on their own.

If set to All text, Finale determines the Product ID from the GTIN, and includes all the rest of the GS1 characters as a plain text Lot ID, substituting a dash for the field separator but otherwise representing the characters present in the barcode verbatim, including application identifiers.

If set to All parts, Finale determines the Product ID from the GTIN, and extracts any date field and batch or lot number (AI 10) or serial number (AI 21), if present, combining them with the date first, as in Exp: 05/23/2016 ABC if the lot or serial number is ABC and a date is present, or just Lot: ABC otherwise. The prefix for Lot IDs that have dates is "Mfg:" for application identifier 11 or 13, or "Exp:" for application identifiers 12, 15, and 16. The prefix is just "Lot:" if the Lot ID doesn't have a date.

If set to Parts as text, Finale determines the Product ID from the GTIN, and includes all the rest of the GS1 information as a plain text Lot ID, similar to the All text option except formatting the application identifiers (AIs) in parentheses to make the data in the GS1 more readable and easier to parse. For example, a Lot ID with application identifiers 15, 21, and 10 might look like, "Lot: (15)160210(21)ABC(10)XYZ". This option in Finale supports all application identifiers defined in the GS1 specification.

GS1 GTIN format: GTIN-12, GTIN-13, GTIN-14, GTIN-8

If GS1 parsing is on (see above), this setting defines the format of the item number, and hence the Product ID, extracted from the GS1 data. The GS1 data contains 14 characters, but item numbers represented within those characters may have fewer digits, padded out with leading zeros. Please adjust this setting to select the correct number of digits in your item numbers, including check digit.

GS1 date format: YYMMDD, DDMMYY, MMDDYY

If GS1 parsing is on (see above), this setting defines the manner in which Finale interprets the date field. In the GS1 standard, all dates are represented in the YYMMDD format. However, some companies do not follow the standard exactly, so Finale presents three options.

Sync purchase as: Received/Editable

This setting specifies the status of purchase shipments received on the scanner when you sync them to the account.

Sync transfer as: Received/Shipped/Editable

This setting specifies the status of transfer shipments received on the scanner when you sync them to the account.

Sync sale as: Shipped/Packed/Editable

This setting specifies the status of sale shipments received on the scanner when you sync them to the account.

Sync return as: Received/Editable

This setting specifies the status of return shipments received on the scanner when you sync them to the account.

Sync stock take as: Committed/Editable

This setting specifies the status of stock takes on the scanner when you sync them to the account.

Sync stock add as: Committed/Editable

This setting specifies the status of stock change add operations on the scanner when you sync them to the account.

Sync stock subtract as: Committed/Editable

This setting specifies the status of stock change subtract operations on the scanner when you sync them to the account.

Sync break cases as: Committed/Editable

This setting specifies the status of stock change break apart case operations on the scanner when you sync them to the account.